Posted by MikeT23 on 2/5/2015 2:26:00 PM (view original):
Anyone who thinks we aren't the "world police" hasn't been paying attention for quite some time.   I don't think we HAD to be involved in the Korean War.  So, what, since the 50's?     We sort of pick which areas we will police but we've been doing it for a very long time.   

My point stands.   We got involved when it was something that wouldn't reach our doorstep.   We did it out of self-interest.   World police.

Posted by MikeT23 on 2/5/2015 3:00:00 PM (view original):

My point stands.   We got involved when it was something that wouldn't reach our doorstep.   We did it out of self-interest.   World police.

Posted by bad_luck on 1/20/2015 10:52:00 PM (view original):

Posted by tecwrg on 1/20/2015 10:24:00 PM (view original):
It's a mixed message he's sending with respect to education.

1)  Everybody should be given the opportunity to go to community college for free

vs

2)  Oh, you've been funding 529's to pay for your kid's college education?  Gee, that's too bad.

It's not like you lose the 529. You just have to pay income taxes on the gains.

Again, it's a subsidy used almost entirely by upper middle class households with kids. People who have the means to pay for or otherwise finance the cost of college. Ending that subsidy in order to subsidize the college education of the poor makes sense.

Posted by bad_luck on 2/5/2015 2:44:00 PM (view original):

Posted by burnsy483 on 2/5/2015 2:01:00 PM (view original):
We kind of are the world police. A lot of people don't necessarily like that, but I think that mentality has more good than bad for the world.

I don't know a ton about the subject, but from what I understand, Russia's argument for annexing Crimea was that the population there identify themselves more as "Russian" than "Ukrainian", so Russia argues that they're just protecting their own people from the issues Ukraine is having. I imagine that if the US was in a similar situation with, let's say, Mexico, we would probably have the same reaction Russia did.

We police the world when it's in our interest to do so. We aren't required to, though. I'm not sure what interest we have in protecting Ukraine.

Posted by silentpadna on 2/5/2015 3:03:00 PM (view original):

Posted by bad_luck on 1/20/2015 10:52:00 PM (view original):

Posted by tecwrg on 1/20/2015 10:24:00 PM (view original):
It's a mixed message he's sending with respect to education.

1)  Everybody should be given the opportunity to go to community college for free

vs

2)  Oh, you've been funding 529's to pay for your kid's college education?  Gee, that's too bad.

It's not like you lose the 529. You just have to pay income taxes on the gains.

Again, it's a subsidy used almost entirely by upper middle class households with kids. People who have the means to pay for or otherwise finance the cost of college. Ending that subsidy in order to subsidize the college education of the poor makes sense.

I'm jumping into this a little late.  But with a purpose. 

Not taxing something does not mean the same thing as "a subsidy".  A 529 plan gives incentive for people to save for college.  How is that a bad thing?  When the government does not tax something it's not the same as "giving them something".  That implies that the money belongs to the government in the first place, when it clearly does not.

"If you make less than $250,000 per year, your taxes will not increase by a single dime...."

Uh huh.

Posted by burnsy483 on 2/5/2015 3:08:00 PM (view original):

Posted by bad_luck on 2/5/2015 2:44:00 PM (view original):

Posted by burnsy483 on 2/5/2015 2:01:00 PM (view original):
We kind of are the world police. A lot of people don't necessarily like that, but I think that mentality has more good than bad for the world.

I don't know a ton about the subject, but from what I understand, Russia's argument for annexing Crimea was that the population there identify themselves more as "Russian" than "Ukrainian", so Russia argues that they're just protecting their own people from the issues Ukraine is having. I imagine that if the US was in a similar situation with, let's say, Mexico, we would probably have the same reaction Russia did.

We police the world when it's in our interest to do so. We aren't required to, though. I'm not sure what interest we have in protecting Ukraine.

Do we consider Ukraine an ally? If yes, you can't let an ally be invaded.

Posted by bad_luck on 2/5/2015 3:32:00 PM (view original):

Posted by silentpadna on 2/5/2015 3:03:00 PM (view original):

Posted by bad_luck on 1/20/2015 10:52:00 PM (view original):

Posted by tecwrg on 1/20/2015 10:24:00 PM (view original):
It's a mixed message he's sending with respect to education.

1)  Everybody should be given the opportunity to go to community college for free

vs

2)  Oh, you've been funding 529's to pay for your kid's college education?  Gee, that's too bad.

It's not like you lose the 529. You just have to pay income taxes on the gains.

Again, it's a subsidy used almost entirely by upper middle class households with kids. People who have the means to pay for or otherwise finance the cost of college. Ending that subsidy in order to subsidize the college education of the poor makes sense.

I'm jumping into this a little late.  But with a purpose. 

Not taxing something does not mean the same thing as "a subsidy".  A 529 plan gives incentive for people to save for college.  How is that a bad thing?  When the government does not tax something it's not the same as "giving them something".  That implies that the money belongs to the government in the first place, when it clearly does not.

"If you make less than $250,000 per year, your taxes will not increase by a single dime...."

Uh huh.

It is a subsidy. Most of the time, investment gains earned over time are taxed as income. To allow someone to keep gains untaxed is giving them something.

Posted by MikeT23 on 2/5/2015 8:52:00 AM (view original):

Posted by dahsdebater on 2/5/2015 12:06:00 AM (view original):
Going back to the manufacturing - large-scale manufacturing will absolutely not be returning to the US in the near future, and it only has to do with the costs of line employees very indirectly at best.  The reality is that the world's big manufacturing plants in China, India, Singapore, Indonesia - especially the tech plants, which are the most profitable - employ literally thousands to tens of thousands of engineers.  In the United States, it's difficult to impossible to rapidly assemble thousands of engineers in one place to start your new plant.  In China, it's easy, and if you don't get them in no time you go to the government and they find them for you.  Everything you guys are talking about - can we bring the cost of American labor and general cost of doing business down low enough to where the difference is covered by shipping costs - is almost irrelevant in light of the difficulty finding the skillled work force in the United States.  I'm constantly shocked by the sheer number of people who are totally unaware of this barrier to modern manufacturing in the developed world.

When you say "engineers", you make it sound like college degrees are required to work an assembly line.  Using moy's example of Boeing or Ford, I don't think they employed thousands of college educated people to man those positions.    Both facilities employ roughly 6,000 people.   Not tens of thousands.    Say 1/5th are college educated, you're still speaking of 1,200 not "literally thousands". 

I'm quite sure I knew what I was talking about.   Now you've changed the topic.   Boeing and Ford manufacture things at the two plants.  Now it's "large-scale tech manufacturing".   Would you like to point out those words in your first post?

If you want to discuss something, discuss it.   But, if you want to change the subject, change the subject.   Just don't pretend discussion 1 and discussion 2 have the same content.

********.

Posted by MikeT23 on 1/30/2015 6:50:00 PM (view original):
When it comes to labor costs, it's almost always going to be cheaper to do it overseas and ship it here.   Shipping costs are relatively cheap.   Bulky, inexpensive items aren't worth it but, for something like electronics, it's always going to be cheaper.    Assuming, of course, planning isn't an issue.   Takes time to move stuff from India.

So, basically, the only way to compete, from a cost-effective standpoint, if corporate taxes.   

This.

********.

Going back to the manufacturing - large-scale manufacturing will absolutely not be returning to the US in the near future, and it only has to do with the costs of line employees very indirectly at best.  The reality is that the world's big manufacturing plants in China, India, Singapore, Indonesia - especially the tech plants, which are the most profitable - employ literally thousands to tens of thousands of engineers.  In the United States, it's difficult to impossible to rapidly assemble thousands of engineers in one place to start your new plant.  In China, it's easy, and if you don't get them in no time you go to the government and they find them for you.  Everything you guys are talking about - can we bring the cost of American labor and general cost of doing business down low enough to where the difference is covered by shipping costs - is almost irrelevant in light of the difficulty finding the skillled work force in the United States.  I'm constantly shocked by the sheer number of people who are totally unaware of this barrier to modern manufacturing in the developed world.